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Upper School

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The four overarching goals of Sun Valley Community School’s Outdoor Program are to:

Build relationships;

Provide opportunities for personal growth;

Develop relationships with wild places;

Teach outdoor skills.

These goals are reflected in the Upper School Outdoor Program curriculum, when students become true partners in programming.

The oldest Cutthroats are expected to be active, enthusiastic participants in their four trips each year, including Fall Campout. Route planning, map reading, trip preparation, menu planning, and gear assignments are all part of student responsibilities.

Upper School students undertake some of the most iconic trips of the school's Outdoor Program curriculum, including the Coast Trip in the fall of tenth grade, the storied Junior Solo in the spring of eleventh grade, and Senior Quest, the trip that unifies the senior class before graduation. Each trip is challenging, unique, and something students talk about long after they have returned.

Upper School students are also exposed to trips of a different sort, including the ninth grade Service Learning week in Salt Lake City and the tenth grade trip to Ashland, Oregon, for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Each trip develops important skills that students will carry with them to college and into the rest of their lives. Upper School outdoor trips are a time to showcase what students have accomplished, to continue to push their limits, to build additional skills, to lead, and to grow exponentially.

Winter: For their winter trip juniors can choose between backcountry skiing or boarding from a Yurt or Nordic skiing on the Harriman trail.

Spring: In the spring students embark on challenging and unique trip. Students immerse themselves in the work of Edward Abbey and Thoreau in the classroom and then participate in a 48-hour solo in the Southern Utah desert to experience solitude first hand. The solo is a formative trip for many.

Fall: Seniors visit colleges or help to lead underclass outdoor trips.

Winter: For their winter trip seniors can choose between backcountry skiing or boarding from a Yurt or Nordic skiing on the Harriman trail.

Spring: Seniors culminate their Community School experience with the 11-day Senior Quest. The quest is based out of Southern Utah and combines a seven-day wilderness experience with three days of whole class activities.

Fall Campout: This is How We Go Back to School

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The Outdoor Program has really given me a sense of self and an appreciation for the outdoors. Seeing all these amazing places inspires me to want to go back out.